As research continues to confirm the link between participation in the arts and academic achievement, more school systems are adding dance to the middle school experience. However, hiring a full-time dance education–certified teacher may not be in the budget initially or at all.

Dance Units for Middle School is a tested tool for middle school teachers who have little or nodance training. It includes three dance units for grades 6 to 8, a DVD with 77 reproducibles, and a music CD. It also has scripts to direct students’ work, strategies for making dance educational and fun, and all you need to facilitate dance units in your classroom.

Research clearly links increased participation in the arts to improved academic achievement—and in response, more middle schools are adding dance to their curriculum. But most middle school educators are not trained in dance.

Realizing this dilemma, author Judi Fey crafted the solution: Dance Units for Middle School. Ideal for teachers without dance training as well as for dance educators, the book takes a student-directed approach—you provide the students clear directions, and they create their own projects. Dance Units for Middle School provides you with everything you need to facilitate dance units:

Teacher scripts to direct your students’ work and to increase your comfort level

Strategies for facilitating student dance and making it fun

A DVD with 77 reproducibles and video demonstrations of all skills

A music CD that saves you time in locating appropriate music to accompany lessons and student work

Each unit includes eight or nine age-appropriate lessons, rubrics, objectives, warm-ups, information on physical and cognitive development, and warm-ups. The units also supply scripted lesson plans to increase your comfort level and group performance projects that the students create. In addition, you will see how each lesson matches to the National Dance Standards.

The DVD provides 77 reproducibles, including signs, assignments, and assessments that you and your students can use in assessing group projects. The DVD also contains videos of the warm-ups, all skills and combinations, and easy-to-follow progressions. Your students follow along as they watch the video clips, demonstrating the skills and combinations that they are learning on the video.

With the detailed instruction, the teacher scripts, the handouts, the music, and the lessons, Dance Units for Middle School is a great resource for you in teaching dance, no matter your previous dance experience. Your students will learn basic dance steps and will build on skills from unit to unit, seeing improvement in their performances from grade to grade. After teaching several units, you might even want to add your own creativity to the lessons.

But for now, you can rely fully on the instructions and materials provided by Dance Units for Middle School. You’ll be learning along with the students and providing them fun performance opportunities and a chance to make dance a lifetime fitness activity.

Reference for middle school physical educators, dance educators, music teachers, classroom teachers, and recreation leaders. Supplemental text for methods courses at the university level.

Judi Fey, MEd, is the dance consultant for Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Annapolis, Maryland. She has taught dance over 30 years, founded and directed the South River Dance Company, and written K-12 dance curriculum for Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the Maryland State Department of Education. She has also organized numerous dance festivals, mentored and provided professional development to K-12 dance teachers, and taught the material in the book.

Fey is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), the Maryland AHPERD, and the National Dance Education Organization. She has served terms as vice president, secretary, and treasurer of MAHPERD, and she has also served on the boards of the Maryland Council for Dance and the Ballet Theatre of Maryland. She was named Dance Teacher of the Year in 1989 by MAHPERD and was a national finalist for the AAHPERD Dance Teacher of the Year in 1999. Fey was awarded the R. Tait McKenzie Award by the Maryland Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD) in 2010. She enjoys alpine skiing, travel, and dance-related classes in her leisure time.